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Environmentalists are outraged by a longstanding practice allowing oil companies to sell water laced with known carcinogens to California farmers. Madeline Stano of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment told Phys.org that 80 percent of the state’s oil production and 45 percent of its farms exist side by side in Kern County. For the past 20 years, a farming cooperative called the Cawelo Water District has purchased water, which is separated from crude oil after extraction, at a significantly reduced price to irrigate crops such as almonds and grapes. The water is tested by a third-party and reports are sent to state authorities, but environmentalists raise alarm that oil companies are permitted to sell water containing benzine and acetone, both of which are known to cause cancer. Read the rest of Carcinogenic water from the oil industry used to irrigate California farms Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: California crops , california drought , california farms , Cancer causing chemicals , carcinogenic water , Cawelo Water District , Center on Race , crude oil water , Drought , irrigation , kern county , Poverty & the Environment , water issues